Petron Breakfast Ride 5: Support Our Troops

Industry leader Petron was a major sponsor of the “Breakfast Ride 5 (BR5): A Campaign to Support Our Troops” held last August 12-13, 2017. About 1,000 motorcycle riders participated in the ride up to Baguio City to express their solidarity with the troops fighting in Marawi City.

BR5 started off with a meet and greet fellowship night on August 12 at the Baguio Athletic Bowl, where riders from all over the country were treated to amusing performances by well-known comedians and young talents. Games and raffle prizes capped off the evening. In attendance were Department of Tourism assistant secretary Frederick Alegre, Department of Tourism-Cordillera Autonomous Region regional director Venus Tan, and former Department of Interior and Local Government secretary Rafael Alunan III.

The following morning, the riders held an organized motorcade from the Baguio Athletic Bowl to the Philippine Military Academy. Wearing their “Support Our Troops” shirt all in the same color to signify their unity, the riders witnessed the silent drill performed by the cadets. To lighten the mood after the precision and solemnity of the drill, the performance ended with an entertaining finale with the cadets dancing to contemporary tunes. Among the special guests for this occasion were Major General Ronnie Evangelista and General Elmer Pabale, who are riders themselves. The morning concluded with a boodle fight between with riders and cadets at the PMA mess hall.

Breakfast Ride (BR) was founded by Raymon and Malou Gabriel—a couple who are both avid motorcyclists and are popularly known as the “Together We Ride” (TWR) duo on Facebook. They have both ridden the Philippine Loop on big bikes from Luzon to Mindanao and have also promoted many successful riding events like the Ironman Motorcycle Challenge 2016 and the 2016 series of Breakfast Ride events 1 through 4, which gathered hundreds of riders from all over the country to participate in popular event venues throughout Luzon.

These Breakfast Ride events are essentially in line with Motorcycle Tourism and have become very popular among big bike enthusiasts because they bring riders together from all over the country to meet new friends, enjoy the camaraderie, and network to establish business connections. Proceeds from all events are channeled to the community’s outreach program called “One Ride, One Mission” or OROM, which focuses on addressing relevant issues and helping natural disaster victims and identified poor communities.